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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26218750">Rough Snippets from Mythal's Foundling Series</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lydia_7134/pseuds/Lydia_7134'>Lydia_7134</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Origins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Arlathan (Dragon Age), Chasind, F/M, M/M, Modern Character in Thedas, Modern Girl in Thedas, Multi, Multiple Origins (Dragon Age), no beta we die like men</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:42:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,377</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26218750</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lydia_7134/pseuds/Lydia_7134</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>I am going to dump various chapters and scenes that might not end up in the finished books later. If I know that I will not use it in the final edition, then I will label it as a "Deleted Scene".</p><p>Any scenes that are sexual in nature will be labeled with an asterisk (*).</p><p>There is no set schedule for new chapters; I will add them as they are written. Constructive criticism is always welcome!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fen'Harel (Dragon Age)/Original Elvhen Character(s), Fen'Harel (Dragon Age)/Original Female Character(s), Zevran Arainai/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue: The Soul-Bonded Lovers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>An abstract story, much like a fable told to a child, to start off the series.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="Standard">
  <span>There was once an immensely powerful Spirit of Wisdom that the king of the land believed held knowledge that he wanted. He bound and tortured the spirit, but it would not speak to him. It would not set this secret free. As a Spirit of Wisdom is not a fighter, it was defenseless against the king's ire and began to twist.</span>
</p>
<p class="Standard">
  <span>The queen of the land found the poor spirit sprawled upon the floor of the dungeon. It begged for death. The queen took pity on this once great spirit saying, “This I can do, Wisdom. In death, I grant you freedom.”</span>
</p>
<p class="Standard">
  <span>With these words, the woman shredded it. She sent a Spirit Watcher to hide the remnants of the Spirit of Wisdom in the Realm of the Dreaming. The Spirit Watcher did her task and waited for a new spirit to form from the pieces.</span>
</p>
<p class="Standard">
  <span>After a time, two new spirits slowly formed where the remains of Wisdom had once resided. One was a Spirit of Pride. It asked its twin for their purpose. The other spirit did not know. When Pride began to worry, its twin calmed it. “I may not know my purpose just yet, but we are still new. Someday, I will know.”</span>
</p>
<p class="Standard">
  <span>Pride smiled and held its twin. The Spirit Watcher took this all in with wide eyes. Two spirits created from one only meant one thing: a soul-bond. Even in Elvhenan, this occurrence was rare and cause for celebration.</span>
</p>
<p class="Standard">
  <span>When the queen's servant alerted her, she summoned the spirits to her side. The queen explained that the spirits had a special connection. She asked if they would like to gain bodies and live within the Waking realm, to become Dreaming-born. Pride, being a type of spirit known to be easily twisted against its purpose, eventually agreed despite its hope that it could one day become a Spirit of Wisdom once again. Its twin, on the other hand, told the queen that they would consider the idea and stayed in the Dreaming. Pride was given a body created by the queen herself, a high honor.</span>
</p>
<p class="Standard">
  <span>As the years passed, there came a time when Pride did not think about his twin. He earned a reputation of being an experienced lover. Women flocked to him in pursuit of even a single night with him. Pride became arrogant, quick to anger and silver-tongued.</span>
</p>
<p class="Standard">
  <span>He was promoted through the queen's military ranks rather quickly. Some of the other warriors began to gossip that the queen had taken Pride into her bed. The whispers only grew as Pride became the commander of the queen's military before he had even turned 500 years old. Those who thought him incompetent changed their minds after he led several successful campaigns that his predecessor would have considered lost causes, calling for a retreat.</span>
</p>
<p class="Standard">
  <span>As Pride thrived in the Waking world, his twin stayed within the Dreaming, rarely straying into the Waking realm. They often visited the queen's Spirit Watcher and her family. The spirit watched as the woman became heavily with child, later giving birth to a grey-eyed boy. Pride's twin was amazed as they witnessed the boy grow into a young man and left to forge his own life.</span>
</p>
<p class="Standard">
  <span>When the woman became pregnant once more, the spirit sensed that something was wrong. The child within would not survive its birth. The spirit came to its friend and offered to give of themselves, all that they were, so that the babe would live. After some deliberation, the woman and her husband agreed to their friend's proposal. The couple later gave birth to a special little girl. Her parents knew that she had her own destiny; it could not be fulfilled with them, so they planned for the best way to help their daughter.</span>
</p>
<p class="Standard">
  <span>The queen found a girl-child in her private garden one day. This foundling became her youngest daughter. During the child's 75<sup>th</sup> year, she was introduced to Pride. As their eyes met, the former spirit found exactly what he had been searching for in borrowed beds. His soul called out to her, implored him to touch her. He decided that he would get to know his other half, become friends with her and eventually court her properly, as she deserved.</span>
</p>
<p class="Standard">
  <span>He was able to resist the temptation until her 100<sup>th</sup> year. Only then did he ask the girl if she would allow him to touch her hand. She tittered and held her arm out to him. When he took her hand, his soul begged that this simple touch was not enough. Holding her gaze, he turned her hand over and kissed the pulse point on the inside of her wrist.</span>
</p>
<p class="Standard">
  <span>This is their story.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Elvhenan - A Very Special Child is Born</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>This story begins with the birth of a very special child. The father, a mid-level priest of Falon'Din. The mother, one of Mythal's Spirit Watchers.</p>
<p>Like her, children born with white hair and alabaster skin were known to have a high affinity for the Dreaming. The more unusual thing about the babe was her grey eyes. The pupils were feline in nature. This was a physical manifestation of the girl's gift of Sight. It showed that she had been granted the ability to See into the future or Witness the devastation of the past.</p>
<p>The girl-child was born into a world that would have used her for her Sight… or taken her blood to use for the <em>betterment</em> of her father's patron. Her parents, fearing both outcomes, changed the hands of Fate.  If anyone could help their daughter, it would be Mythal as she was likewise Gifted.</p>
<p>The mother was able to cloak both her and the child's presence from the Dreaming realm. She hid the child in Mythal's private garden behind a bright-colored bush. With a heavy heart, the woman slowly dismissed the cloaking spell from the babe and walked back into the palace.</p>
<p>Since the parents could not hide that the mother had given birth, the father took a stillborn from its intended grave to claim that <em>this </em>was the child his wife had borne instead. Falon'Din accepted this child's death and wrote of it in his record books. The child's body was then awarded a burial of higher honor than its original would have been.</p>
<p>Mythal, the All-Mother, found the babe not an hour later just before taking her morning tea. She asked her three spirit companions about the child. The Spirits of Curiosity, Hope and Compassion all claimed no knowledge of the young girl nor how she came into being. When the little girl first opened her unique dragon-like grey eyes so similar to the Evanuris’ own golden ones, Mythal knew that the child would need her guidance.</p>
<p>After discussing the unique situation with a Spirit of Justice, Mythal decided to take the foundling into her care. Elgar'nan was appalled at the idea of rearing a child not of his soul and declared that he would not help to raise the babe. This was agreeable to his wife Mythal, the All-Mother, as she had already come to care for the girl as her own.</p>
<p>However, there was a question as to whether this child was Dreaming-born or Waking-born. If Waking-born, then the infant was uncounted for by the Population Watchers, and her personhood would be called into question. If Dreaming-born, then the child was as unique as another of the Pantheon: June, a dangerous thought.</p>
<p>June was the <em>only </em>known spirit who had created a body for itself without the help of another. He was also the most suspicious of the child. He did not believe Mythal's story of finding the girl so… <em>conveniently</em>.</p>
<p>However, try as he might, June could find no evidence of foul play in the Waking or Dreaming realms. He longed to question the three spirits who had been with Mythal when she had found the babe, but Mythal's Spirit Watchers denied his requests.</p>
<p>June asked Mythal herself for permission, but she told him that the spirits in her land were protected by the Spirit Watchers; it was entirely up to them if a spirit were to be loaned out for any given amount of time.</p>
<p>After a year of deliberation, Mythal was finally granted sole parenthood of the foundling. She named her new daughter Leena: <em>She Who Appears to Shine</em>.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, I didn't expound on it, but the Dreaming-born are all  spirits that inhabit bodies that were created by another person. They never age.</p>
<p>Mythal and Elgar'nan may have created themselves from nothing, but they are the only ones old enough to remember. However, since they would have been the only beings in existence, it stands to reason that they would not have started their journeys as infants.</p>
<p>June, on the other hand, was a Spirit of Creation who made an infant body for himself. He is also the only Dreaming-born in living memory to have AGED like a Waking-born.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Elvhenan - A First Try at Magic</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="Standard">
  <span>Mythal was looking over her advisors' reports. Her golden eyes scanned the pages with an air of dissatisfaction. One of Dirthamen's creations was laying waste to some of its local wildlife. She shook her head, her black hair swaying with the motion behind her silver diadem. Mythal wrote a message to Dirthamen requesting that he bind the varterral to a certain area so that it could not roam and hurt civilians in the vicinity. The door to Mythal's office opened and tiny, cloth-bound footsteps slapped upon the marble floor.</span>
</p>
<p class="Standard">
  <span>“Mamae! Watch this!” a young ashen-haired girl exclaimed, practically vibrating with excitement. The All-Mother placed her field reports aside and turned her attention to her five-year-old foundling.</span>
</p>
<p class="Standard">
  <span>“You have my attention, darling daughter.” The girl squinted her grey-colored dragon eyes, concentrating on her raised hands. Mythal watched closely as a small bolt of electricity danced between the child's palms harmlessly. Leena's tiny lips pulled into a frown at her first display of magic.</span>
</p>
<p class="Standard">
  <span>“Wait, I can do better,” the girl claimed with determination. She closed her eyes and felt for her magic like her Mamae had told her before. Golden eyes widened at the sight of the ball of lightning the size of her head glowing between Leena’s tiny hands.</span>
</p>
<p class="Standard">
  <span>“A storm mage...” Mythal breathed as she leapt from her chair and kneeled in front of her child. “This is wonderful, Leena! Now, I need you to feel your mana and slowly bring it back in.”</span>
</p>
<p class="Standard">
  <span>“Okay,” the girl replied tiredly. Leena began to diminish the amount of power that she was giving to the spell. When the purple orb of electricity was extinguished, Mythal embraced Leena in her arms.</span>
</p>
<p class="Standard">
  <span>“I'm so proud of you,” the All-Mother whispered to her daughter with a smile on her face. Leena was simply glad that she could erase the frown from her Mamae's lips.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Elvhenan - Agitation Among the Pantheon</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Leena has been training for decades in all manner of various weapons, from sword and shield to court intrigue.</p><p>Nearing her 70th year, Leena has been appointed as Mythal's Champion. Some people are not taking the news well.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="Standard">
  <span>After June, Ghilan'nain despised Leena the most because Ghilan'nain <em>earned </em>her place in the Pantheon. She even had to wait until her 1,000<sup>th</sup> year before being accepted as one of the Evanuris.</span>
</p><p class="Standard">
  <span>The child was experiencing her childhood much like Falon'Din, Andruil and Sylaise had. Everyone feared that the foundling would one day become the next member of the Pantheon. All but Sylaise and Dirthamen saw her as a nuisance, a challenger. However, none of them wanted to share their power any more than what they already were. The foundling being raised by Mythal was beginning to truly divide the Pantheon.</span>
</p><p class="Standard">
  <span>“She is being raised as if she was a full-blooded child of Mythal!” Ghilan'nain sneered.</span>
</p><p class="Standard">
  <span>“That child is not mine. It will not ascend as my children have. I will not allow it!” Elgar'nan's voice boomed across the room as his fist connected with the top of the table before him. The only Evanuris not in this unofficial meeting was Mythal.</span>
</p><p class="Standard">
  <span>“Perhaps if we publish propaganda about the child being less than us, the People will not accept her should such a time arrive that the girl is an option for ascension to the Pantheon,” Sylaise suggested in her diplomatic tone. The woman seemed to inherit her mother's calm disposition. Andruil scoffed.</span>
</p><p class="Standard">
  <span>“You are the youngest. Are you not afraid of being replaced, Sister?” the Huntress inquired. Sylaise tilted her head in thought before replying.</span>
</p><p class="Standard">
  <span>“Is it fear of replacement that you have or do you simply long to share Mother's Wolf in your private bedchambers?” the Hearthkeeper asked her sister with false naivety. Andruil reached for her sibling's throat, but June intervened.</span>
</p><p class="Standard">
  <span>“Sister of my Wife, calm yourself,” he demanded with a flash of rare anger in his eyes. Dirthamen looked to the God of Crafts behind his bone-colored mask.</span>
</p><p class="Standard">
  <span>“You conducted an inquiry. Do you have information, June?” the Keeper of Secrets asked, his voice magically altered. Sylaise's husband sighed as he and Andruil found their seats once more.</span>
</p><p class="Standard">
  <span>“My search revealed nothing. That in and of itself is mysterious enough. I have not heard of another Dreaming-born in the body of a babe. It is not done. To do such a thing would destroy the spirit's memory of self,” the man explained as he ran his fingers through his blonde hair.</span>
</p><p class="Standard">
  <span>“I have checked the records of the 20 years surrounding her arrival with my Population Watchers. Every couple that was granted permission to have a child either did or bore a still-born,” Falon'Din announced in the pressing silence.</span>
</p><p class="Standard">
  <span>“No oddities, then?” Dirthamen asked his soul's twin. The Friend of the Dead shrugged.</span>
</p><p class="Standard">
  <span>“The only one that I can think of is the fact that two still-born babes were born within weeks of each other, both male. I investigated it, though. They shared nothing save that they never took a breath. Both babes had separate parents with different ranks and none of the four parents served the same patron. It was just a case of coincidence,” the pale-skinned man with black hair decided. He leaned back in his seat and rubbed his temple. He could feel a headache coming on.</span>
</p><p class="Standard">
  <span>“No leads on the <em>thing's </em>origin except for conjecture and no real plans for how to derail her inevitable raise to power...” June's voice trailed off.</span>
</p><p class="Standard">
  <span>“Why can't we spread stories among the People to-” Sylaise began only to be interrupted by the God of Crafts placing his hand on her forearm.</span>
</p><p class="Standard">
  <span>“My Wife, if we put the child in any propaganda or stories, the people will see it as the Pantheon openly declaring that she is one of us,” he explained with infinite patience.</span>
</p><p class="Standard">
  <span>“We are definitely <em>not</em> doing <em>that</em>,” Ghilan'nain declared. “I will never address that... <em>commoner </em>as an equal.” Andruil hummed in agreement.</span>
</p><p class="Standard">
  <span>“I actually have someone among my followers that looks remarkably similar to the foundling, my dear friend,” Dirthamen offered Ghilan'nain. The woman gave a feral grin as a plan began to form in her mind.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Elvhenan - Form of the Divine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A continuation of the previous chapter.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="Standard">Leena entered her Mamae's office as she had been told. She was instructed to wait. To pass the time, she did some of the new exercises that she learned from Panelan during her training. After doing the exercises twice, Leena sat in the All-Mother's chair behind her desk. There was a report that caught her eye. It read:</p>

<p></p><blockquote>
  <p class="Standard">
    <em>This sinner has taken the shape of the divine and is claiming that the Wife of Andruil urged him to take the form of the divine. The man has requested that the All-Mother protect him from Ghilan'nain's lies. He bares the mark of Dirthamen. As this case is unique, the sinner has been taken to Dirthamen's Maze until sentencing.</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p class="Standard">The door opened, admitting the Great Protector herself. Leena jumped out of the chair and moved to stand next to the desk. Mythal looked to the desk to see what had interested her daughter so. Upon seeing the report, the All-Mother declared calmly, “Elgar'nan will judge the man for his crime later this month. I refuse to interfere in their... <em>games </em>with one another<em>. </em>It is foolishness and arrogance that drives such childish behavior. I will <em>not</em> encourage it.”</p>
<p class="Standard">“What did it mean when the report said that he took the <em>form of the divine</em>?” Leena inquired.</p>
<p class="Standard">“It means that he took on the form of a dragon, darling daughter,” Mythal answered, ever patient with her youngest.</p>
<p class="Standard">“Why is the form of a dragon considered divine?”</p>
<p class="Standard">“It is for everyone's safety. Only those in the Pantheon and their elite chosen ones are allowed to take the form of a dragon because we might accidentally kill any others, thinking that they pose a threat to nearby cities and the people dwelling within,” the All-Mother explained. Leena nodded her understanding as they moved on to different subjects.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Elvhenan - "Justice" for the Sinner</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A man with black hair and grey eyes was led into Elgar'nan's throne room for judgment. The two Peacekeepers escorting him kicked the backs of his knees, forcing him to collapse to the marble floor. He tried to sit up, to face his day of judgment with his head held high, but one of the Peacekeepers placed their armored foot on his back.</p><p>So, this was how it would end for Ilen, the "sinner" who had somehow found himself in the middle of the gods' games, prostrate before the God of Vengeance with about half of the Pantheon glaring down at his form. On top of everything, Ilen had been denied assistance from the All-Mother, the only god who could have stopped all of this. But Ilen understood from the day that Dirthamen had named him, he would make many sacrifices.</p><p>“Ghilan'nain, what do you say to the Sinner's accusations that the Sinner sinned by your urging?” the God of Vengeance inquired, his voice echoing off of the flat, marble walls of his throne room.</p><p>“I say that the charge is something carelessly flung by the Sinner in the hopes of a lighter sentencing,” the Mother of the Halla declared heatedly. Not a complete lie...</p><p>“Dirthamen, what have you heard about the Sinner?”</p><p>“The Sinner was named Silvhen before the Sinner reached majority. When the Sinner came into my service, I renamed the Sinner Ilen,” Dirthamen declared from behind his mask.</p><p>“Falon'Din, what do your records say about the Sinner?” the All-Father asked.</p><p>“Born 3,755 years after the founding of Arlathan, the Sinner's father is a priest of mine while the Sinner's mother is one of Mythal's Spirit Watchers,” the God of the Dead responded tonelessly.</p><p>“Andruil, would you be willing to Hunt the Sinner?”</p><p>“No, Father. In my eyes, the Sinner is not fit to <em>breathe </em>the air of the divine. The Sinner is not worth loosing a single arrow,” the red-haired Huntress sneered.</p><p>After a few minutes of contemplation, Elgar'nan knew what the Sinner's punishment would be. The Evanuris gave a monstrous grin, showing his teeth. “The name of the Sinner will revert back to the one held before majority. <em>Silvhen </em>is now a name that is illegal to be bestowed upon another child and picked up by adults upon their majorities.'</p><p>“For the next 75 years, the Sinner will toil as a laborer in my territory for taking wing in the shape of the divine. After the 75 years have passed, the Sinner will spend the next ten years in Dirthamen's Maze for accusing one of the Pantheon of a baseless crime. When the time in Dirthamen's Maze has ended, the Sinner will be sentenced to death for not being fit to breathe the air of the divine. The Sinner's spirit will be held back from passing into the Beyond by Falon'Din. What the Friend of the Dead wishes to do with the Sinner's spirit at that time is only limited by the Evanuris' imagination. During the Sinner's sentencing, the Sinner is not allowed to seek out death, as the punishment of the Sinner will affect the livelihoods of the elvhen,” the Father of Vengeance's voice boomed in the large throne room.</p><p>The slave's grey eyes closed in defeat. On top of everything, to lose his name...</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Elvhen translation:</p><p>Ilen - name that means "He who sacrifices for the good of all"</p><p>* * *</p><p>Author's note: </p><p>If this chapter goes into the book, then I will focus more on Silvhen's thought process rather than Elgar'nan's sentencing. I figure that someone who has been a slave for his entire life would be more focused on the fact that he followed orders and was still punished. As he continued to tell the truth, his punishment became more severe.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. 9:31 Dragon - Attachments</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Zevran!” Erin Fletcher called with a smile on her face, adrenaline pumping through her veins. There was no immediate answer.</p><p>“Over here, dear.” It was Wynne. She was kneeling over the assassin's prone form. His chest wasn't moving. Erin had never seen him so still.</p><p>“Zevran?” the redhead asked with a note of hysteria in her voice. She began to move toward him.</p><p>Wynne looked up as she continued to try healing Zevran's injuries. “Keep Fletcher back!” she ordered.</p><p>Strong arms wrapped around the short archer's waist, holding her in place. Erin watched helplessly as Wynne's face became solemn. The old healer shook her head and rose from the grassy earth.</p><p>Erin screamed, “NO! I can save him! Let me save him!” She kicked the shin of her captor, but he only held her tighter. She repeatedly cried out Zevran's name.</p><p>“Ir abelas, falon,” Theron whispered near her ear. In response, the otherworlder became dead weight in her friend's arms. The Dalish man did not expect this and he dropped her to the ground in surprise.</p><p>Not one to let an opportunity pass her by, Erin ran to Zevran and began her CPR training. She ignored everyone's protestations.</p><p>
  <em>Pressing her ear to his mouth, she heard and felt no breath.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Heel of right palm on lower half of the sternum. Interlock fingers with left hand's fingers curled under to keep the majority of right palm off the chest, keeping the force of the compressions on the heel of the right hand.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Not allowing her elbows to lock, Erin bore her weight down for the first compression and began to sing under her breath.</em>
</p><p>“Well you can tell by the way I use my walk,</p><p>I'm a woman's man: no time to talk.</p><p>Music loud and women warm, I've been kicked around</p><p>Since I was born-”</p><p>A thought dawned on her. “NERIA!” Fletcher barked as she continued the compressions. The younger woman stepped forward. “You have the weakest lightning spell, correct?” The blonde elf nodded nervously. “Good. Every time that I shout 'clear', I will remove my arms, and I want you to give a small shock to Zevran's heart.” When Surana looked confused, Fletcher growled, “Can you do it?”</p><p>“Yes, falon,” the Dalish mage answered meekly as she kneeled down on the other side of Zevran. Erin flashed her a quick grin.</p><p>“Okay. Ready? CLEAR!” Erin lifted her hands out of the way. Neria followed with her smallest electricity spell. The spell left behind a small scorch mark on the man's leather armor. Erin quickly resumed her chest compressions. Her wine-colored curls bounced as she shook her head. “That wasn't enough. You will need to feed more into the charge.”</p><p>“What is this?” Tabris demanded as his hand tightened on the hilt of his greatsword.</p><p>“Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation,” Erin answered breathlessly, without thought. “I'm a military brat. My father required me to go through training every six months. CLEAR!”</p><p>Another shock to Zevran's heart, slightly stronger.</p><p>After lowering her ear to Zevran's lips, Erin continued the compressions. “More juice, Neria.”</p><p>“What are you doing?!” Darrian repeated, a note of anger behind his question.</p><p>“The compressions are forcing his heart to beat and blood to pump through his veins. The shocks are trying to force his heart to restart.”</p><p>Morrigan growled, pushing Surana to the side, “Move, elf. CLEAR!”</p><p>Instinct made Erin lift her arms out of harm's way as the witch sent a shock of electricity into the assassin's chest. Before the redhead could admonish the mage for her spell being too strong, a harsh breath came from the Antivan man's lips.</p><p>“Zev!” Erin cried as she collapsed onto him, holding him close to her. Relief set in along with the realization that she almost lost him. She hadn't allowed herself to think that there was a possibility that any of the companions could <em>die</em> during the Blight. <em>I could lose him</em>, she realized. This scared her more than anything.</p><p>“We <em>really</em> need to stop meeting like this,” Zevran coughed out. The otherworlder gave a watery chuckle.</p><p>Heavy silence followed while the archer composed herself once more.</p><p>For once, it was Morrigan who saved Erin from her awkwardness. “Surana's spell wasn't making it through the assassin's armor.”</p><p>The otherworlder nodded absently. She rose from the ground and began to walk away. When she finally spoke once more, her voice was flat, emotionless. “Someone check Zevran for cracked, fractured and broken ribs.”</p><p>Erin knew that she couldn't allow herself to become attached to Thedas nor any of its people, but her latest actions threw into stark relief that it was already too late.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As a result of this incident, Erin obsessively checks Zervan for signs of the blight after each fight with darkspawn.</p><p>* * *</p><p>CPR from start to finish was 1.5 minutes.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. 9:31 Dragon - Howe's Denerim Estate</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"What's behind door number spooky?"</p><p>Warning: Mature rating activated</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The room smelled heavily of iron, floor sticky with unknown substances. Men and women had been stripped of all clothing and dignity, hung by their feet and burnt with a branding iron on their flanks. Through a singular, horizontal slice along the neck, they were bleed like pigs on an abattoir.</p><p>The sight was a perverse mockery of animal slaughter. At the end of the room, one of the bodies was flayed open like the carcass of domestic livestock.</p><p>“Is Howe <em>eating</em> them?” As Erin turned, she noticed something on one of the corpses: a tattoo.</p><p>It was no larger than four inches in length, but the ink was difficult for Erin to miss; the number 251967 was etched along the forearm and forced her breath to shudder. The once black ink of the tattooed numbers along the man's left forearm had lost the majority of its original color, tinting the flesh a grey-green. The man was circumcised. This brave man had survived Hitler's Holocaust only to be tortured in Howe's dungeon -in another world- nearly a century later.</p><p>Another glance around the cold, underground room of a dozen decaying bodies brought further evidence to light that confirmed her suspicion: someone was hunting Earthlings for Arl Howe.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. 9:31 Dragon - Story Time Around the Campfire</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A lore enthusiast's view on the story "Fen'Harel and the Tree".</p><p>Neria Surana had just told the story the day before.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Gods do not simply rise to power from nowhere. They become gods when enough people believe them to be so, reality and legend twisted into a living mythology," Erin explained.</p><p>Theron seemed nearly incensed, quite a change from the Dalish man's normally reserved personality. His grey Dirthamen vallaslin scrunched with the frown marring his forehead. “Are you saying the Creators aren't real?”</p><p>“Not at all, just that they were not as they have become." the redhead attempted to placate. She took a moment to rack her brain for how to explain. "Take <em>Fen'Harel and the Tree</em>, for example. Three gods with one lashed to a tree, helpless and weakened. The Huntress tells Fen'Harel that she will tie him to her bed, and he will <em>service</em> her whenever she demands it for the next year and a day. It was an act meant solely to humiliate and degrade.” Erin waited for her assessment to sink in.</p><p>Many of the faces surrounding the campfire blanched.</p><p>“Fen'Harel only managed to escape the Huntress' slavery by using his cunning to turn her and Anaris' hatred against one another.”</p>
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